Psmith, Journalist · Chapter
Cosy Moments explained
Mr.
What happens
Mr. J. Fillken Wilberfloss, editor-in-chief of the domestic paper Cosy Moments, is forced by his doctor to take a ten-week holiday in the mountains, completely cut off from the paper. He leaves final instructions with his subeditor Billy Windsor, who is weary of the editor's repetitive advice. Wilberfloss warns about Mrs. Parslow's lateness and asks Windsor to correct B. Henderson Asher's humor, then departs, leaving Windsor to manage the paper.
Themes in this chapter
Journalism and Power
The chapter introduces Cosy Moments as a domestic paper founded as an antidote to yellow journalism, and shows the editor's control over content and the tension between editorial vision and the realities of running a paper.
Humor and Absurdity
The description of B. Henderson Asher's 'Moments of Mirth' as 'the most painful production ever served up to a confiding public' and the editor's fussy, repetitive instructions inject a satirical tone into the chapter.
Characters to notice
- Mr. J. Fillken Wilberfloss
Editor-in-chief of Cosy Moments, forced to take a ten-week holiday by his doctor; gives final instructions to Billy Windsor before leaving.
- Billy Windsor
Subeditor of Cosy Moments, listens moodily to Wilberfloss's lengthy final instructions and is left in charge of the paper.
- B. Henderson Asher
Alleged humorist who writes the 'Moments of Mirth' page; Wilberfloss asks Windsor to correct his tendency toward broad humor.
- Luella Granville Waterman
Conducts the 'Moments in the Nursery' page; her proofs are being read by Billy Windsor at the end of the chapter.
- Rev. Edwin T. Philpotts
Conducts the 'Moments of Meditation' page, mentioned as part of the paper's regular content.
Key passages
“The man in the street would not have known it, but a great crisis was imminent in New York journalism.”
An ordinary person would have been unaware, but a major upheaval was about to occur in New York's newspaper world.
Opening line establishing the ironic contrast between public ignorance and the impending crisis.
“Cosy Moments, as its name (an inspiration of Mr. Wilberfloss’s own) is designed to imply, is a journal for the home.”
Cosy Moments, named by Mr. Wilberfloss, is intended to be a family-oriented magazine.
Explains the paper's domestic focus and the editor's pride in its name.
“He was adamant. He had seen copies of Cosy Moments once or twice, and he refused to permit a man in the editor’s state of health to come in contact with Luella Granville Waterman’s “Moments in the Nursery” and B. Henderson Asher’s “Moments of Mirth.””
The doctor was firm, having seen the paper and deeming its content too stressful for the editor's health.
Highlights the doctor's drastic prescription and the implied low quality of the paper's content.
“Billy Windsor was a tall, wiry, loose-jointed young man, with unkempt hair and the general demeanour of a caged eagle.”
Billy Windsor looked like a restless, outdoorsy person trapped in an office job.
Character description emphasizing his unsuitability for the domestic paper's environment.